


what i remember (by wilbur soot)

by Teahound



Series: a garden of thorns (Dream SMP one-shots) [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ghostbur, I need to stop writing about ghosts, Major character death - Freeform, Not super Graphic, Spoilers for November 16th War, Stabbing, The Dream SMP, This was written so fast my brain was running a million miles an hour, but still, ghost - Freeform, sad ghosty boy, that book broke me why wilbur why, wilbur soot can't remember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teahound/pseuds/Teahound
Summary: Well, Wilbur Soot keeps breaking my heart.Spoiler warnings for the November 16th War!Fun fact if you listen to this while also listening to "since I saw Vienna" you will cry.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot, Floris | Fundy & Wilbur Soot, Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson
Series: a garden of thorns (Dream SMP one-shots) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058096
Comments: 17
Kudos: 254





	what i remember (by wilbur soot)

He remembers Phil. Well, not exactly, not a face, not yet. Just a name and a feeling. A lot of his memories are like that now. All fuzzy around the edges. A lot of blank spaces, flashes of vividness is the cool greyness of his current existence. He clutches the quill, tries to remember. 

Phil. Phil holds him tightly, and Wilbur, who is very small, clings to him. He’s frightened (why is he frightened?) but sitting in his father’s arms, he can’t help but feel safe. 

“You’re okay,” Phil tells him. “I’ve got you, son.”

Wilbur buries his face in his father’s shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief. 

********

Techno. That’s a name, and a blur of pink and silver to go with it. Wilbur remembers laughing as he and his brother cross blades, moving up and down the clearing with shuffling footsteps, steel ringing loudly in the sunlight. With a sudden burst of fury, Techno knocks him to the ground, and Wilbur feels his blade fall from his hand as the air escapes his lungs with a small “oof.” 

“I win again,” Technoblade says, his pink hair falling over his face, breathing hard. Even though his brother has cold steel pressed to his neck, Wilbur laughs. 

“You always win. You needn’t be so triumphant about it.” He holds out a hand, and Techno pulls him up. “Again?”

“Again.”

**********

Wilbur wanders across the broken crater of a land. He can’t feel anything, just a coldness that stutters through him instead of a heartbeat. 

He thought he’d be at peace. He doesn’t want to be here like this. He feels lost. 

There’s a river here, and he dips his hand in his, expecting sensation, but it runs across his dead hands like sand instead of liquid. 

Sally. There was Sally, right? He remembers the sound of laughter, but it fades as he reaches for it, as intangible was the water on his fingertips. 

************

“You sure he’s yours Wilbur?” 

“Oh shut up.” 

Who was he talking to? 

He remembers the child in his arms though, small black eyes peering up at his from a face of fuzzy orange. Wilbur holds his son close and wonders if this is what Phil felt when he held him. 

**********

Fundy grows up fast, and Wilbur catches a glimpse of him bounding through some distant meadow, chasing down a beetle before the memory begins to slip away. 

He has his mother’s laugh. 

*********

“–why not?”

“Because you’re a child Tommy,” Wilbur says and snorts at the expression on his young friend’s face. “Oh no, Tommy’s angry!”

Tubbo chuckles too, not in a mean way, just in a Tubbo way. He’s constructing a dock, wading through the water with the legs of his pants rolled up. The sound of Fundy talking to someone echos in the distance, while Tommy splutters indignantly. “You are a bitch.” 

“I’m–” Wilbur begins, jovial, but the moment is gone and he doesn’t know what he was going to say. 

************

Wilbur stands on the roof of the van. The cold wind still smells of gunpowder and smoke, but the air in his lungs says _I’m alive, we’re alive, we did it!_ He grins at his companions, his friends, in smart uniforms of blue and white. “YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SUCK IT GREEN BOY!” he screams, and despite the blood and bruises of the long wartime days they’ve suffered through, Wilbur doesn’t think he’s ever been more triumphant. 

**********

There is no breath left in Wilbur Soot’s lungs. He didn’t know that was a sensation one could feel the loss of. 

He wonders if the air in this burned-out crater smells like gunpowder and smoke once again. 

*********

Bread. That’s a smell he remembers. Freshly baked bread, the memory tangled together with Niki, leaning against the counter in her bakery, her hair falling out of a messy bun. Fundy’s sitting on the counter, a leg tucked beneath him, and Wilbur playfully swats him across the head. “Bad fox.”

“Oh leave me alone, I’m not a kid.”

“It’s fine Wilbur,” Niki says, giggling a little. Wilbur envies her easy laugh. The air smells sweet. She must have a cake in the oven. It’s warm in here, so full of gentle light and greenery, and Wilbur feels suddenly at peace. 

**********

He stands on the podium, still wearing that blue jacket, Tommy grinning happily at his side, standing tall. The crowd below cheers and Tommy somehow manages to cheer louder. “We won Wilbur!” 

Wilbur smiles at Tommy and shakes his hand. “I’m proud of you Tommy. You’re a wonderful vice-president, I hope you know that.”

Tommy flushes with pride and victory and tosses his hat into the air, where it falls in the pond below.

************

Wilbur grips a quill in his hand and tries to remember. 

Things get rather blurry now, a jumble of moments that don’t make sense. They fall in bits and pieces, some moments clearer than others. 

There’s a ravine, glowing softly with lantern light, the taste of baked potato on his tongue. 

Techno throws open the doors to an enormous armory, the grin on his face insufferably smug and familiar. Wilbur smiles at him, gasping in impressed delight. 

Arrows fall through the sky a thousand times, a thousand different moments. 

There’s a tunnel. Lined with yellow? No, no, it leads into a little room with some chests. And a button? It’s all too jumbled and he can’t recall. 

****************

He feels the blade run him through. 

“Phil?” he says, and he coughs. His mouth is full of salt. He can feel the air in his lungs, the wind in his face, and it’s fading. 

He remembers Philza’s face now. 

His father wraps his arms around him, and he can’t help but feel safe. 

Wilbur buries his face in his father’s shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief. 

************

His brain stutters in confusion like it’s suddenly full of static.

“I don’t know,” he announces to the empty room, like a declaration of ignorance will make it more understandable. Wilbur curls up in his chair, staring at the books that line the walls. 

He wishes that had been the end of it. 

He wonders why he’s still here. 

Wilbur Soot wonders if it’s better that he doesn’t remember.


End file.
